Show Prep!

The 2020 show season begins for me soon and I am working on entries for the first show of the year. It's always nice to shake off the winter doldrums and get together with other hobbyists for a day of showing and socializing.

Worth the Wait will be making his first show appearance. I'm not sure if I will show him as an Appaloosa Sport Horse, a Knabstrupper, or an Appaloosa/Thoroughbred cross. But I have plenty of time to make that decision.

There is also a medallion collectibility class and I am taking two of my very early medallions to see how they will do. I have no idea how they will stack up against the other medallions that will be in the class, but you never know unless you try.

I'm taking a pretty small show string and am including some models that I have never shown before. The judge for OF Plastic is not someone I've shown under before, so I do not yet know her judging style and preferences.

I am going to pop Sultanna into a class, too. While I know she is not really very competitive, I had decided when I joined NaMoPaiMo this year that I would enter my finished model in a show. 

The models are all tagged and ready to go; now, to pull out my tubs, bubble wrap, and pony pouches!

Comparing Two Versions of the Appaloosa

The Beswick Appaloosa has been on my model dream list since I first saw a photo of it in 1970. Years later, I was lucky enough to purchase the Royal Doulton version, but I still wanted the Beswick. Lucky me, now I have both. The Royal Doulton is named Pavarotti and the Beswick is Worth the Wait. Here's how they look next to each other.

The Beswick is on the left and the Royal Doulton on the right. The paint and detailing is much nicer on the Beswick and looks more realistic.

I love those beautiful layers of coloring on the Beswick's head and neck. Take away those brush strokes on the Royal Doulton and you would have a nicer piece.

Eye detail is better on the Beswick and its spots and color really vary. 

It's a little hard to see, but the white of their coats are different. The Royal Doulton is more stark while the Beswick's is creamier. (Sort of looks like the opposite in this picture, doesn't it?)

The Beswick backstamp.

The Royal Doulton backstamp.

They definitely have their differences, but I am delighted to have both of them in my collection. 

Mourning a Student

(This is a non horsey post.)

Teaching is a wonderful profession - you get an opportunity to touch lives and make a difference every day. It can also be challenging and difficult, but I loved being a teacher and cherished those years I spent with kiddos.

A teacher's heart can be broken, though, and mine was broken yesterday when I saw this news article. 

The crash happened near the elementary school where I had taught, and so I knew there was a good chance that the teens who were killed were kids that I knew or had had in my classroom.

I was right.

Last spring I was asked to come out of retirement and take over SOAR, a classroom for teens who had been expelled from school. The class was for kids that were working to be able to return to school the following August. One of the students, KR, was familiar to me as he had attended the elementary school where I had taught. 

It was the most difficult teaching position I'd ever had and I went home in tears more than once. But we had our successes, too, one of them the day that KR presented me with a drawing of a seal he had made me and then asked to hang on the wall beside my desk where we could all enjoy it.

In this post, he is the boy in the photo with headphones. (That's my friend and fellow teacher, Kathy Nimmer and Nacho. She had agreed to come visit my class and talk to them about guide dogs. KR and the other kids were fascinated!)

On the last day of school I wrote that I had gotten ten of the original thirteen students through the program and that I hoped they would find success in the coming school year. KR was one of those students and he did indeed return to his school last August. And now he is gone. Way too soon.

I am absolutely heartsick.

(Two other blog posts about the class can be found here and here.)

Worth the Fifty Year Wait

Fifty years ago, Horse and Rider magazine published an article on model horses, the article that introduced collectors scattered around the country to the early beginnings of the model horse hobby. I was one of the readers of that article, and I fell in love with the Beswick Appaloosa that won Best Pleasure Model of 1970.

Appaloosas are my favorite breed, and the Beswick Appaloosa is absolutely lovely. I was on the lookout for one of my own from that moment on. 

Sadly, the piece proved to be very elusive.  It wasn't until twenty-five years later when the advent of the internet began opening up possibilities that I found what I thought was the Beswick Appaloosa. I discovered a Royal Doulton shop that was selling Beswicks online, so I placed an order and waited excitedly for my dream piece to arrive.

Only it wasn't the Beswick Appaloosa - it was the Royal Doulton version and not nearly as nice. I was so disappointed. But despite that disappointment, I kept it and even showed it a couple of times. And in the meantime, I kept my eyes open for the Beswick version.

I found a few more of the Royal Doulton version, but only once or twice did the Beswick come up for sale. And when it did, it was usually snapped up quickly - it remains a very sought after piece among collectors.

A month ago or so, another one popped up on an online model horse sales site. The ad had been posted for several days when I discovered it, so I assumed the piece had been sold. But I contacted the seller, just in case. I was stunned to find out that the sale had not yet closed - there was a person ahead of me who had contacted the owner about it, but that they had not yet committed to buy it. The seller contacted them and let them know that she had another person who was also interested and asked for them to make their decision. They backed out of the sale, and the piece was mine.

 It arrived today on my doorstep.

 Pepper was very interested in it; but not nearly as much as I was!

The seller had carefully packed the model with layers of foam. When I lifted off that last layer, I felt such a rush of happiness.

At last! After FIFTY YEARS of waiting and looking, I am now the proud owner of a stunning Beswick Appaloosa. Usually I am pretty good with words, but I simply cannot articulate how happy I am to have this piece.

Coming soon: a comparison of the Beswick Appaloosa with the Royal Doulton one.

NaMoPaiMo: I Did It!

Sultanna is finished! And I am very pleased with how she turned out. 

 Painting is done - I just need to spray on the sealer.

I found the frogs frustrating - even with a teeny tiny detail brush, I struggled with clumsy hands and the inability to see clearly what I was doing. I have bifocals, but I still could not see the frogs well enough to paint them neatly.

 The photo is a little blurry, but I am so happy with how Sultana's face turned out.

I have learned so much from participating in NaMoPaiMo this year and I see many ways that I can improve. But I am happiest that I tried. In the past, I've declared to myself that I have no artistic talent and never attempted painting a model horse. And while I don't think I will ever take the model horse world by storm with my creations, I can still find enjoyment and self satisfaction in painting model horses. 

That is more than enough.

And the Winner Is...

Dani Youdris! Congratulations!

Dani (on the right) is Great Lakes Congress, LLC's 2020 Most Valuable Member and Liz LaRose is the 2020 Shower of the Year! (All photos courtesy of Liz Cory.)

Dani signing her name to the traveling trophy.

The winners were announced at the annual Great Lakes Congress, LLC members meeting last Saturday. The 2020 Board of Directors was elected, too.

President: Jamie Rott

Vice President: Lisa Esping

Treasurer: Liz Cory

Secretary: Dani Youdris

Director: Steff Bodamer

Director: Lori Southerland

Director: Liz LaRose

Left to right: Lisa Esping, Liz LaRose, Ellen Vogel, Liz Cory, Steff Bodamer, Jamie Rott, Lori Sutherland. All are holding medallions that Jamie Rott made them for their service to the club.

Congratulations to all and thank you for serving.  I am looking forward to another fun show season with the GLC crew!

The Traveling Trophy is Returned

Last year, Great Lakes Congress, LLC  surprised me at their April show, naming me the Most Valuable Member, 2019.  

 The Most Valuable Member trophy is given out annually in recognition for service to the club. (I had researched and written the history of the club and presented it to them for their 35th anniversary.) 

 That trophy has been proudly displayed in my library ever since. 

A history of who has won the trophy goes with the trophy to its next home - each recipient signs and dates it.

I mailed it back to Liz Cory earlier this week so that they would have it in time for their annual membership meeting and elections. 

I'm sad to see it go, but I am honored to be part of the GLC legacy. And I can't wait to hear who won the trophy for 2020!

NaMoPaiMo: Beginning Detail Work

I finally checked off Sultanna's coat as finished - as someone said on the NaMoPaiMo Facebook site, sometimes we keep tweaking and fiddling when we are actually done and can move on.

Now it was time for detail work.

 I'd gone to Hobby Lobby and found a fan brush to use in shading Sultanna's mane and tail.

I mixed two parts Titan Buff and one part Burnt Sienna for the shading along with a little water to thin it. I also used that color on her hooves.

The previous day, I had watched several tutorials on how to paint eyes. I started by painting them white (and added Sultanna's star while I was using the color.)

I mixed Carbon Black and Phthalo Blue for her eyes.

The picture doesn't show it well, but I like how her eyes turned out. The tutorials also had a brown pupil in the middle, so I am not done with them yet.

I am not happy with how the muzzle turned out. I was going for a very soft grey as I did not want a stark contrast. 

 I'd mixed Titanium White with just a smidge of Carbon Black; today I will mix Titan Buff with the Carbon black and put on another layer.

 The hooves look a little too pink to me, so I will paint another layer using a mix of Titan Buff and less Burnt Sienna than I used last time.

I am determined to do my best, so I will be painting her chestnuts and frogs, too.

I have less than a week to finish her, but I am confident that I will.

Found and Lost

I am always on the look out for circus ponies, and the Freeman Leidys are extremely elusive and hard to find. Needless to say, my jaw dropped when this set showed up on eBay with a starting bid of ninety-nine cents. (All photos from eBay.)

 My fingers flew over the keys as I went to make a bid, and then I saw the notation that only local pickups would be accepted. The set was in Rhode Island. And I am in Indiana.

The set included the head down green pony - I did not even know that color existed until a year ago when I found (and purchased) the head up pony in green. I've suspected since then that it had a matching head down pony, and there it was!

The set included the head down pony in pink, too! I have the head up pony in pink but have been looking for its counterpart for years. I already have the head up and head down ponies in blue, but am always happy to add Freeman Leidys to my collection. (I have the circus wagon in purple.)

My head up ponies in pink and green.

My head up and head down ponies in blue.

I contacted the seller and asked if she would reconsider and ship the pieces, telling her that I was very interested in the set but lived in Indiana. She said that if the set did not sell, then she might. Relieved at her answer, I settled in to watch and wait.

No one bid. Until the very last minute. And they won that entire set for ninety-nine cents.

I was crushed. So much Freeman Leidy goodness at my fingertips and lost in just a few seconds. Whoever won that auction got an incredible deal. And I will keep looking.

NaMoPaiMo - The Ugly Stage Can Be the Excuse Stage

I have ten days to paint if I want to complete Sultanna by February 29, the ending deadline for NaMoPaiMo. And I do want to finish her by then. But I think that I may be procrastinating.

 I finally took the plunge and began shading her body color.

I mixed two parts Yellow Oxide to one part Titan Buff and got a nice subtle color that was a smidge darker than the coat color, and did an initial shading.

The light in my horse room, no matter how I shine it or the lamps that I bring in, is not what I'd like, but you can see the shading in the above photo. I like that it looks subtle and barely there. (I still need to do the lighter highlighting.)

 My detail brushes arrived and are ready for her eyes, hooves, and white markings.

I made a goof when buying a set of fan brushes for the mane and tail. These are way too big for a Stablemate! (I had a good laugh over that.)

For my twelfth painting session, I painted another layer of Titan Buff on Sultanna's mane, tail, socks, and hooves, covering some of the coat color that had gotten where it I didn't want it.

The mane is now the color I was working for; next I want to add some shading to it for a more realistic look. I'll stop by Hobby Lobby or Michaels today after I meet a friend for lunch and see if I can get a TINY fan brush for that step. (I am still smiling about those big brushes!)

But despite all the progress, I have been putting off the more difficult steps, the detail work that will bring Sultanna to life. The reason?  That detail work will also show me where I am as an artist. I am a beginner, no doubt about that, but can I really paint a model? Can I make it look lifelike, at least a little bit? I am not expecting perfection of myself, but I do want Sultanna to look nice.

And therein lies my hesitation. The ugly stage is also the excuse stage - "Well, it's still a work in progress so yes, we are in the ugly stage!" But getting beyond the ugly stage is when you find out if you can achieve what you'd hoped - a realistic looking model.

I have ten days to push myself out of the ugly/excuse stage and move forward. Wish me luck.